On August 8, 1944, the submarine USS Gunnel was patrolling in the area South of Marinduque.
Just after noon at 12:21pm the Gunnel spotted a convoy of six vessels to the South of Marinduque. At 2:40pm the Gunnel surfaced and started firing on the convoy with it’s deck guns, two 20mm machine guns and a 4” deck gun. Both machine guns jammed and the 4” gun was overshooting. To avoid unexpected return fire from the convoy the Gunnel cleared it deck and dived.
It was discovered that Rudolph Velle Motor Machinist’s Mate first Class was missing. Velle had been acting as the gun captain and when the Gunnel had fired its last round from the four-inch gun, the recoil knocked him into the sea.
With an enemy patrol boat and aircraft arriving on the scene, the Gunnel was unable to surface and search for Velle until evening. At 6:52pm the Gunnel surfaced but were unable to locate Velle. Velle was known to be a strong swimmer and perhaps capable of making the fourteen miles to Marinduque.
In fact Velle did make it to the beach. It is here where Alfredo L. Siena took charge of Velle. Nothing was recorded on how long Velle was on Marinduque. He would later be transported on a schooner to Panay where on December 4, 1944 he was rescued by the submarine USS Hake.
Article from the Pacific Stars and Stripes September 1961
Rudolph Velle in 1978
